Pro Kabaddi: With a strong squad, Telugu Titans are title contenders -Preview, Squad, All you need to know

India's second most watched league Pro Kabaddi League is back with its 9th edition from October 7th, 2022.

After an auction which saw records breaking left, right and centre, all the 12 franchises have a new look from the change in players to coaching personnel.

We take a look at how Telugu Titans line up for the upcoming season.

READ: Pro Kabaddi: Schedule for season 9 announced

Last Season Review

Telugu Titans had a season to forget in PKL 8. They lost their talismanic raider Siddharth Desai early to an injury and the team looked clueless after that.

Titans finished last with just one win across the 22 games played. A few positives were the rise of raiders Ankit Beniwal and Rajnish and a good contribution from youngster Adarsh T.

The team had no direction and they have changed a lot this time.

PKL 9- Squad Changes

Telugu Titans went for a total overhaul this time and just retained Ankit Beniwal, Muhammad Sihas, Rajnish and Prince from the previous year's squad.

Telugu Titans went with a huge purse and a good strategy in the auctions. They bought former U Mumba raider Abhishek Singh, the experienced raider from Patna Pirates Monu Goyat, former Tamil Thalaivas skipper Surjeet Singh and one of the most experienced defenders of PKL, Ravinder Pahal.

Titans used FBM to get back their former raider Siddharth Desai and youngster Adarsh T. They were also successful in securing the services of Irani all-rounder Mohsen Maghsoudlou, defender Vishal Bhardwaj and experienced defender from Gujarat Giants Parvesh Bhainswal.

They also bought Hamid Mirzaei, Aman Kadian, Vijay Malik and Ravinder.

Telugu Titans Full Squad-

Retained Players: Ankit Beniwal, Rajnish, Muhammed Shihas S, Prince, Palla Ramakrishna, Vinay, Mohit Pahal, Mohit, and Nitin.

Auction Buys: Abhishek Singh, Monu Goyat, Parvesh Bhainswal, Siddharth Desai, Surjeet Singh, Vishal Bhardwaj, Hamid Mirzaei Nader, Mohsen Maghsoudlou Jafari, K Hanumanthu, Adarsh T, Vijay Kumar, Ravinder Pahal, Aman Kadian, and Ravinder.

PKL 9 Preview- Strength and Weakness

Strength- Telugu Titans is looking like the most balanced squad at the moment.

Titans have stacked up their raiding lineup with names Monu Goyat (552 points), Abhishek Singh (386 points), and Siddharth Desai (469 points) who are all match winners.

Ankit Beniwal and Rajnish are their backup raiders who scored more than 100 points each last season.

The corner combination has skipper Ravinder Pahal who is famously known as The Hawk for his ankle holds, Pahal sits 4th overall in the list of top defenders in PKL.

He will combine with Vishal Bhardwaj who has been a rock-solid defender and comes with enormous experience.

The cover combination of Surjeet Singh and Parvesh Bhainswal is one of the most feared ones in Kabaddi circles. Surjeet is 5th overall in the list of top defenders and Parvesh has seen a meteoric rise in PKL with his tackling prowess.

They have good backups in form of Adarsh and Prince who have played in PKL. Mohsen brings the much-needed all-rounder experience to the squad and has a history of impact performances in PKL.

Weakness- Telugu Titans might face one problem and that is injury prone nature of players like Ravinder Pahal, Siddharth Desai and Monu Goyat.

If their first choice line-up remains injury-free, Telugu Titans can lift the elusive PKL Title.

Telugu Titans Predicted 7 for PKL 9

Ravinder Pahal (Right Corner), Vishal Bhardwaj (Left Corner), Monu Goyat (Right In), Siddharth Desai (Left In), Surjeet Singh (Right Cover), Parvesh Bhainswal (Left Cover) and Abhishek Singh (Center).